Absolutely no to emerald green. That would make no sense. Stick with the neutral color palette that you already have. And for my broken record advice ..... focus on TEXTURE and LAYERING, not COLOR. Color is rarely, if ever, the answer to a boring room. Your bigger problem is not related to your question. Your problem in that space is the furniture. It's too much of the wrong kind and it's not configured well. That room is not big enough for a couch and a love seat. So I would find a new home for one of them. Whichever one you keep should be positioned where the love seat currently is, facing the TV. Then run your coffee table the other direction. Then you need two accent chairs to complete the U shaped seating arrangement (instead of another couch type piece). Then you need a proper sized console table under the TV. Then remove all of the knick knacks on the sofa table and put two lamps on it, and limit the other items on the lower shelves to things that make sense like books. And then hang a large piece of art of the wall across from the window.

Since you love emerald green, I am willing to bet you have some in your wardrobe! Pull it out of the closet/dresser and try it in your room.

How about choosing a color from your rug? Then declutter the sofa table and get a media cabinet that covers most of the wall.

Definitely a longer media cabinet. If it were me I would get similar to the wood tones on your tables.

You can definitely add some curtain panels, art and accessories to the room. I think color would help a lot. As for emerald green - possibly. There are many shades of emerald, and if you find one that is a grayed green (not a bright intense green) I think it would work. You need to repeat it, so it looks intentional (throws, curtain fabric, accessories). I personally think green goes with everything, you just have to find the right one. Do you have an arm cover you can bring shopping with you?

The tree looks nice doesn't it? There's some green that works just fine. I think you can do it.

You have a lot of soft colors so it might be tricky to integrate something strong and saturated, but I don't think the color itself is the hard part.

We don’t have a media cabinet yet b/c we are thinking of getting built-ins installed. Thoughts? We recently moved in so trying to figure out the best lay out and decor for the room. And yes for Christmas the sofa table has more on it then it usually would lol

No to built ins. Dated. Just invest in furniture.

Here's an emerald chair and some emerald pillows. I like the color, but it doesn't work very well with your rug.

Here's a suggestion you didn't ask about. Your sofa table overpowers your couch. How about using it as your media console, then getting something slimmer for behind the sofa?

Your Christmas decor is very pretty, but arrange your objects in groups. I've moved nativity the pieces closer together (and enlarged them; maybe you could get a bigger one for next year), and also grouped your frame with your candlesticks. Grouping small objects makes them read as one larger object and keeps them from looking like clutter.

I agree with groveraxle, Right now, while putting away Christmas decor, move your sofa table under the TV--see what you think. Without knowing the dimensions of your room--I think keeping the sofa where it is, adding an accent chair where groveraxle placed it, and maybe removing the love seat entirely? A hunter green might work better than emerald (and is trending for 2019 so should be easier to find)

I don't think builtins are dated but I do agree that a good console would work better in this particular spot.

I agree with Groveraxle about the sofa table overpowering the love seat.

I don't think green looks bad, as groveraxle shows but I would stick with a neutral, play up the darker grey that is in your rug. Also, current sofa table should be used as media cabinet, remove love seat, move sofa then across from TV and have two chairs with table in the middle under the window.

groveraxle, thanks for doing that. Where did you find that media console? Also here is another picture of a different way I arrangement for the furniture

The media console is from Restoration Hardware, part of their Printmaker's collection. I like your L-shaped arrangement better, plus it looks more functional.

That sofa table is huge. I think you should use it for a media console till you find the perfect one.

It looks nice the way Grover did it. Maybe some art work to pull in the green? I sort of get that bowling alley feel with the console along the wall the way you have it in your last pic Rox

Here's an idea. Get a big wild rug with emerald green and other colors since you have neutral furniture (check Home Goods, Wayfair, or estate sales). Then get a glass coffee table to show it off. Hang some big art that you love, and wait until you find something you love (local art fairs or estate sales). Get some (1 or 3) coffee table books at the thrift store that you like and stack them. Put your candlesticks on them. Get a floor lamp with a table attached and get rid of that other wooden table. Too big and chunky for the room. Whatever you do, don't be in a hurry. Wait until you find just the right stuff. Your home should tell a story about YOU and your family, places you've travelled to, pictures of places/people you love, objects that reflect something about you. Otherwise, it's not home. And p.s. I love the nativity. You could start collecting them and put a bunch of them on that table at Christmas with big hurricanes with white candles in them.

Make a wall collage of black and white pictures of your kids in clip frames (Hobby Lobby/Michaels). Hang either next to your black front door, or your stairway there. A collage of 3 or 5 (8 x 10's).

A sage green would work better with your rug.

Laure, which of the wood tables are you saying to get rid of?


Gover, thanks! I like more of an emerald green even a teal or blue type color

I may switch to a glass coffee and end table

Try placing the sofa console table under the TV instead of behind the love seat. It's not useful there.

Bringing in that emerald green chair, like Grover did a few pics ago, really adds alot to your room. Plus it makes a nice(er) seating arrangement. If you were willing/able to change your carpet you could have your beautiful emerald green living room. Here's a pic of a living room where someone said - I love blue (lol)

New bolder rug with no competing greens:

A great piece of art would really steer you in the right direction foraccent colors - and so much the better if it highlights green. In his example there are many shades of green's cooler persona, and some neighbors, that play well with gray. From emerald, to teal, to jade, to indigo, to loden and maybe a dash of something else if the art calls for it. Green is generally thought of as a neutral and I can see it working quite well in this room.

groveraxle, what app do you use to do that?

I think you need a few different shades and patterns of emerald green, teal, and blue, in the room, otherwise I think it just looks like you are plunking down one accent color into an neutral room. The pillows and chair that Manon posted above area an excellent example of mixing a few jewel tone shades and patterns.

I like the L configuration best. Can you move the shelves from behind the sofa to underneath the TV just so we can see what that looks like? I think it will open up the room a lot until you find what you are looking for as a more permanent media piece.

I think you need to add a few more layers to the space in addition to color otherwise it will look like the same room you have now with some accessories plunked down. Everything in your room is square, opaque, has girth, and no variation in texture. Below are some rooms that came up when I searched teal or emerald accents. What works about these rooms is not just the color, but that there are also metal accents, rounded pieces, and texture layered in. There is so much for the eye to go to beyond just color.

Built-ins are dated??? Never! Give me a classic solid hardwood built-in library/study any day. That said, QUALITY built-ins are less common than builder grade ones and have a price tag to match. They should be an architectural statement that add to the ambiance of a room, not just wall clutter. If you do them (from an actual cabinetry company) just keep in mind do them because you love them not to add value to the home. Quality built-ins cost at least as much as kitchen cabinetry. Sometimes significantly more depending on the scope of the project. You won’t get your money back in resale so it has to be a labor of love.

I think forest green would look great as accents and perhaps a big ottoman to replace coffee table, with a tray on it for drinks of course. Groveraxle can you do a picture?

I have an emerald green front door and get compliments on it regularly. Also have an emerald green cabinet in my kitchen that also gets rave reviews and is cheerful to look at. To answer your question on the chunky wood coffee and end table...get rid of both, esp you are getting a new bolder rug with green. You need smaller, less chunky wood (if you're using wood). Glass coffee table can show off your rug. Someone above mentioned adding some metal. I agree. Layer all these elements (fabric, metal, glass, wood) and you've got a very interesting room. Legs on a table could be metal, or metal lamp base, candlesticks, etc. Just get some metal in there, and okay these days to mix metals. Anxious to see what you do. Rug below is what I'm talking about. Go wild, it will cheer you up every day.

My first thought was the sofa table behind the sofa under the TV.

following

Updated :

Thoughts/Any more recommendations ? Yes, I know I need a TV stand but we are taking our time picking one.

It looks really nice!

Pretty room. I guess you have decided against moving the table behind couch to under the tv till a console is found?

The tv is mounted too high for comfortable viewing.

The Christmas decorations are gone. What is different?

Please don't block the view of the room with the chunky table behind the couch and all of the "things" on it. I really like the chunky piece under the tv. Put it there while you look for something to replace it, you might even decide to keep it there. The open, airy feeling your room has with the cabinet under the tv is like a breath of fresh hair. If you feel you need something behind the couch, try three nice cloth covered stools which could be used for extra seating or as an occasional ottoman. Or maybe drape a large, attractive throw draped over the sofa on one side. And if you feel you must have a sofa table there, choose something the length of the sofa, no taller than the sofa and make sure it has a slim more delicate build. Do not put tall heavy items on it that will block the airy feeling, choose just one thing, like a long and low wooden bowl/ item for the top. If you do put a table behind the couch, the more stuff you put on it the more it seems to "choke" the room and it appears that you have built a wall to keep people out.

I like what groveraxle shows--but I would also change out for a round coffee table :)